Vogue 2814 Issey Miyake skirt and top

Reviewed by:	Ann Smith	About Ann Smith CA USA Member since: 8/24/02 Reviews written: 155 Sewing skills:Advanced Favored by: 186 people patterns reviewed: 152 Bio: I love to sew for fashion, especially unusual designs. I own way too many patterns and fabric! I hav...full profile
Posted on:	7/21/04 12:33 PM
Last Updated:	7/22/04 7:32 PM
Pattern Size:	Regular
Project Photo:
Pattern Photo:	Pattern Information provided by Ann Smith
Pattern Rating:	I Highly recommend this pattern
Hold on, I've got a lot to say about this pattern! First off, I think it is fabulous. Second, I didn't think it would work for me. I used an inexpensive fabric I found in my stash to make a wearable muslin and I was quite surprised to find it a winner. I made the long sleeve top and skirt. The pattern describes it as a fitted, pullover top with a twisted front drape and with sleeveless or long two-piece sleeves. The skirt is flared, loose-fitting through the hip, lower calf length riding below the waist with front drape, back zipper and shaped hem. As with all Miyake patterns, there are puzzling moments, surprises and unusual construction. The top (which has been already been reviewed here with the sleeveless version) is basically one odd shaped pattern piece with the addition of an under-sleeve piece for the long sleeved version. There are no shoulder seams. You turn half of the fabric inside out to create the twist so be sure you like the backside of your fabric. The sleeves are unlike any I have ever encountered...sort of a gusset underarm that extends to the wrist. The gusset comes up high, halfway up the armscye both front and back. This is the tricky part on the top. Careful attention to pivoting at the points is necessary to get a clean look. I didn't think the top would work for me because I am full and very low busted. Other reviewers suggested this would not work for my shape because the draping would be too high. Also it is very tricky to alter and since I cut a size 10 which is 6 inches smaller than my bust I figured it wouldn't fit. I attempted to add onto the side seams but you can't really do that easily because of the way the underarm piece curves into the seam. I added on below the sleeve seam and eventually took most of the inch I added back out except at the hips. Perhaps because of the ease from the draping, the top stretched to fit me and the drape seemed to settle where I needed it. I also took in the center front seam below the twist tapering from nothing to almost an inch from midriff down. This made a big difference in the smoothness of the front fit. The finishing is just a raw edge with 2 rows of topstitching. This worked for me on this matte jersey and is a very current look. If you don't want this finish you will need to add on at the neck edge, sleeve edge and bottom hem since there is no allowance there. Of course I needed to cut off 2 inches at the sleeves which is my usual alteration. I did not shorten the skirt length so it is long since I am 5'3". The skirt is pure genius. Again I didn't think it would work on me since I have quite a full abdomen and usually try to avoid any attention there and rarely wear a top tucked in. I wouldn't say this is the most slenderizing skirt I have but it looks pretty good. I think this is because of the way it drops to a vee in front and the vertical line of the drape. Be sure to use a very drapey and not bulky fabric! The only way I could figure to alter since this was a size 6-8-10 and I need a 14 in a skirt was to add to the center back seam. There are no side seams and the front is very fussy. This worked great. If you do this be sure to add onto the facing pieces as well. You must pay very close attention to the instructions (which are excellent by the way) because you have to do many odd things like sewing wrong sides together, right side to the wrong side, facing on the right side on one part and facing on the wrong side on another, stay tape on the right side here and on the wrong side there. It is all very strange. And then you get to the crucial moment when you sew up the top part of the front seam. I had to study the instructions, pin the pattern to the fabric, check dots, squares, circles (be sure you mark these well) for quite a while before I got it right. Once I stitched it together I still didn't think it was right because I hadn't realized that the top edge of the skirt was going to be raw edges. Duh. The whole rest of the garment was...why wouldn't this be too. Be sure that the interfacing and seam tape you use matches your fabric because they will show. The only knit interfacing I had on hand was white which I thought would be ok as it didn't show through the fabric. But I had to go back and trim away my fused interfacing on the bottom edge of the facing (who knew the facing would be top stitched to the outside of the skirt?). I also ended up having to turn under and top stitch the top edge because my seam tape and interfacing were showing. But that worked out okay. Just cut your interfacing smaller than the facing before you fuse it. I think Vogue worked really hard on this pattern to get the instructions worked out clearly. If you follow them carefully this works out and creates an incredible garment. The way the front drapes is amazing and even now that I did it I'm not quite sure how it worked. It is rated advanced by Vogue but, except for the gussets on the top and figuring out the twist on the skirt, it is quite easy. Once you have the fitting issues resolved it goes together quite quickly.